Stella shorts
Encyclopedia
The Stella shorts are a collection of short films by the comedy group Stella
. The short films were produced and written by Michael Showalter
, Michael Ian Black
, David Wain
, who also star in the shorts with a number of guest actors. They have gained considerable popularity on the Internet, after initially appearing on CollegeHumor
.
A collection of the short films, Stella Shorts 1998-2002, was released on DVD in 2002, but is no longer being produced. Since the short films are not currently available on DVD, they are often distributed freely online by fans on video sharing websites such as YouTube
and Dailymotion
. Many of the shorts can also be found on Stella's official website.
s. The shorts spawned a number of running jokes and consistencies in the troupe's act, such as Michael Showalter's line "We don't have...this money" and group discussions about the nature of God. Many of the shorts contain raunchy humour, including various instances of people engaging in comical, non-graphic sex acts while being completely clothed or a sudden, casual appearance of a dildo
.
Some of the actors to guest star in the shorts include Sam Rockwell
, Paul Rudd
, Elizabeth Banks
, Bradley Cooper
and Julie Bowen
as well as several members of Stella's alma mater The State
, such as Joe Lo Truglio
. Comedian Zak Orth
appears in many of the shorts as well.
The guys go on a botched turkey hunting trip before thanksgiving.
David goes to the apartment of his long-lost cousin, but Michael and Michael wreak havoc upon arrival.
David and Michael meet their old group of college friends at a cottage in the country for an emotional reunion.
The guys play with a golden retriever
all day during their day off.
The guys travel back in time to celebrate the first Thanksgiving
with their pilgrim
ancestors.
The guys travel to Antarctica where they enlist a sherpa
and search for the mythical figure.
David and Michael attend an office party which is unexpectedly taken hostage by terrorists.
The guys join a group of Christmas carolers
in an ill-fated attempt to spread holiday cheer.
The guys enjoy a day at the park playing heated games of whiffleball.
After seeing an ad for a garage band in search of members, the guys partake in a disastrous audition.
Attempts to solve their boredom with a number of activities leave the guys strapped for cash. Sam Rockwell guest stars.
The guys apathetically find themselves caught up in a classic whodunit
situation at a dinner gathering thrown by Michael's wealthy uncle.
The trio joins an apartment-run yoga
class, disrupting it spectacularly.
In need of money after being mugged, the guys enter a shady poker game and soon find themselves in hot water.
A rountine camping trip quickly spins into disaster as the trio finds themselves lost in the woods. Featuring Paul Rudd.
A fishing trip takes a chaotic turn after the boys encounter a dangerous "dickfish" while illegally fishing in a marked-off pond. This short begins with a "retrospective" making-of type segment featuring interviews with the cast.
The trio takes a job raking leaves for "Bill"(played by Bradley Cooper) but soon find themselves facing their greatest challenge yet.
David's "family friend" Enis(Zak Orth
) comes to visit, but Michael and Michael's attempts at hospitality leave much to be desired.
Michael's self-inflicted exclusion from a trip to the pizzeria leaves him devastated.
The trio attempt to grow moustaches in a heated competition.
A lonely Michael fantasizes an elaborate, surreal interpretation of Chicago's
"Saturday In The Park
"
The boys find a stray cat and take it in.
An attempt to do a crude, partial re-enactment of the "Awkward" short in a single, prolonged shot, featuring a "special guest".
A rainy day inspires the boys to play "Truth"(as opposed to "Truth Or Dare"), leading them into a surreal, paranoid, nightmare-like journey of self-discovery
.
The boys bond over a day outdoors.
A dialogue-less short featuring the trio having dinner together to the tunes of various styles of jazz.
The boys warm up backstage at the Fez nightclub in preparation for following Janeane Garofalo
with their stand-up act.
, the website on which cast member David Wain
had achieved much success with his show Wainy Days
. The short was originally shown during Stella's 2008 live tour.
Stella (Comedy Group)
Stella is a comedy trio consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, and David Wain . The group formed in 1997 as a weekly nightclub comedy attraction, performing at New York City nightclub Fez from 1997 until February 2005...
. The short films were produced and written by Michael Showalter
Michael Showalter
Michael English Showalter is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is a member of the sketch comedy trio Stella. Showalter first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's The State, which aired from 1993 to 1995...
, Michael Ian Black
Michael Ian Black
Michael Ian Black is an American comedian, actor, writer and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Ed, Viva Variety, Stella and Michael & Michael Have Issues. He is also a prominent poker player, appearing on Celebrity Poker Showdown several times...
, David Wain
David Wain
David Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is most widely known for the feature films Role Models and Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State and for producing/directing/writing the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital...
, who also star in the shorts with a number of guest actors. They have gained considerable popularity on the Internet, after initially appearing on CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
.
A collection of the short films, Stella Shorts 1998-2002, was released on DVD in 2002, but is no longer being produced. Since the short films are not currently available on DVD, they are often distributed freely online by fans on video sharing websites such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and Dailymotion
Dailymotion
Dailymotion is a video sharing service website, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement, Paris, France. According to Comscore, Dailymotion is the second largest video site in the world after YouTube....
. Many of the shorts can also be found on Stella's official website.
Origin of the shorts
Stella collectively self-produced the short films from 1998 to 2004. The short films were originally shown at the group's live stage shows at nightclubNightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s. The shorts spawned a number of running jokes and consistencies in the troupe's act, such as Michael Showalter's line "We don't have...this money" and group discussions about the nature of God. Many of the shorts contain raunchy humour, including various instances of people engaging in comical, non-graphic sex acts while being completely clothed or a sudden, casual appearance of a dildo
Dildo
A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for bodily penetration during masturbation or sex with partners.- Description and uses :...
.
Some of the actors to guest star in the shorts include Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
, Paul Rudd
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My...
, Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell , known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy...
, Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
and Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen is an American film and television actress. She played Carol Vessey on Ed and Denise Bauer on Boston Legal. She is best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011...
as well as several members of Stella's alma mater The State
The State (TV series)
The State is a half-hour sketch-comedy television show, originally broadcast on MTV between December 17, 1993 and July 1, 1995. The show combined bizarre characters and scenarios to present sketches that won the favor of its target teenaged audience...
, such as Joe Lo Truglio
Joe Lo Truglio
Joseph "Joe" Lo Truglio is an American actor, writer and comedian best known for his work as a cast member on the cult MTV sketch comedy series The State...
. Comedian Zak Orth
Zak Orth
Zak Orth is an American comedic actor known for his roles in Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, Melinda and Melinda, In and Out, and Music and Lyrics...
appears in many of the shorts as well.
Chronological List of Stella shorts
- 1 - Turkey Hunting
The guys go on a botched turkey hunting trip before thanksgiving.
- 2 - David's Cousin
David goes to the apartment of his long-lost cousin, but Michael and Michael wreak havoc upon arrival.
- 3 - College Reunion
David and Michael meet their old group of college friends at a cottage in the country for an emotional reunion.
- 4 - Day Off
The guys play with a golden retriever
Golden Retriever
The Golden Retriever is a medium-sized breed of dog. They were historically developed as gundogs to retrieve shot waterfowl such as ducks and upland game birds during hunting and shooting parties. As such, they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and have an instinctive love...
all day during their day off.
- 5 - Thanksgiving
The guys travel back in time to celebrate the first Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
with their pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
ancestors.
- 6 - Searching for Santa
The guys travel to Antarctica where they enlist a sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...
and search for the mythical figure.
- 7 - Office Party
David and Michael attend an office party which is unexpectedly taken hostage by terrorists.
- 8 - Christmas Caroling
The guys join a group of Christmas carolers
Wassailing
The tradition of Wassailing falls into two distinct categories: The House-Visiting wassail and the Orchard-Visiting wassail. House-Visiting wassail, very much similar to caroling, is the practice of people going door-to-door singing Christmas carols...
in an ill-fated attempt to spread holiday cheer.
- 9 - Whiffleball
The guys enjoy a day at the park playing heated games of whiffleball.
- 10 - Audition
After seeing an ad for a garage band in search of members, the guys partake in a disastrous audition.
- 11 - Bored
Attempts to solve their boredom with a number of activities leave the guys strapped for cash. Sam Rockwell guest stars.
- 12 - Whodunit
The guys apathetically find themselves caught up in a classic whodunit
Whodunit
A whodunit or whodunnit is a complex, plot-driven variety of the detective story in which the puzzle is the main feature of interest. The reader or viewer is provided with clues from which the identity of the perpetrator of the crime may be deduced before the solution is revealed in the final...
situation at a dinner gathering thrown by Michael's wealthy uncle.
- 13 - Yoga
The trio joins an apartment-run yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
class, disrupting it spectacularly.
- 14 - Poker
In need of money after being mugged, the guys enter a shady poker game and soon find themselves in hot water.
- 15 - The Woods
A rountine camping trip quickly spins into disaster as the trio finds themselves lost in the woods. Featuring Paul Rudd.
- 16 - Dickfish
A fishing trip takes a chaotic turn after the boys encounter a dangerous "dickfish" while illegally fishing in a marked-off pond. This short begins with a "retrospective" making-of type segment featuring interviews with the cast.
- 17 - Raking Leaves
The trio takes a job raking leaves for "Bill"(played by Bradley Cooper) but soon find themselves facing their greatest challenge yet.
- 18 - Awkward
David's "family friend" Enis(Zak Orth
Zak Orth
Zak Orth is an American comedic actor known for his roles in Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, Melinda and Melinda, In and Out, and Music and Lyrics...
) comes to visit, but Michael and Michael's attempts at hospitality leave much to be desired.
- 19 - Pizza
Michael's self-inflicted exclusion from a trip to the pizzeria leaves him devastated.
- 20 - Moustache
The trio attempt to grow moustaches in a heated competition.
- 21 - Saturday
A lonely Michael fantasizes an elaborate, surreal interpretation of Chicago's
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
"Saturday In The Park
Saturday in the Park (song)
"Saturday in the Park" is a song written by Robert Lamm and recorded by the group Chicago for their 1972 album Chicago V, with Lamm on piano and lead vocals and Peter Cetera on bass and backing vocals. The single version hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's highest-charting single...
"
- 22 - Cat
The boys find a stray cat and take it in.
- 23 - One Shot
An attempt to do a crude, partial re-enactment of the "Awkward" short in a single, prolonged shot, featuring a "special guest".
- 24 - Truth
A rainy day inspires the boys to play "Truth"(as opposed to "Truth Or Dare"), leading them into a surreal, paranoid, nightmare-like journey of self-discovery
Journey of self-discovery
The term "journey of self-discovery" refers to a travel, pilgrimage, or series of events whereby a person attempts to determine how they feel, personally, about spiritual issues...
.
- 25 - Friendship
The boys bond over a day outdoors.
- 26 - Dinner
A dialogue-less short featuring the trio having dinner together to the tunes of various styles of jazz.
- 27 - Backstage
The boys warm up backstage at the Fez nightclub in preparation for following Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
with their stand-up act.
- "Bar" was included on the Stella Season One DVD
New MyDamnChannel Short
On December 15, 2008, Stella premiered "Birthday", their first new short since 2004, on My Damn ChannelMy Damn Channel
My Damn Channel is an entertainment website.- History :My Damn Channel was founded by Rob Barnett. It launched July 31, 2007.Named one of the 50 Best Websites of 2011 by TIME Magazine...
, the website on which cast member David Wain
David Wain
David Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor and director. He is most widely known for the feature films Role Models and Wet Hot American Summer, the 1990s' sketch comedy series The State and for producing/directing/writing the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital...
had achieved much success with his show Wainy Days
Wainy Days
Wainy Days is an internet video series starring David Wain that is hosted on the website, My Damn Channel. It is currently running in its fourth season. The web series follows a fictionalized version of Wain through his everyday life as he tries to form relationships with numerous women and...
. The short was originally shown during Stella's 2008 live tour.
External links
- Stella shorts at CollegeHumorCollegeHumorCollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
- Stella's Vimeo Page, the only current location of the "College Reunion" and "Poker" shorts.